Drivers often forget the location where they had parked their vehicle. This is a frequent problem, especially in large multi storied parking garages. In this event, drivers have to either walk a long distance in the parking garage till they locate their vehicle; or they have to request the services of a parking attendant or a friend to drive them in the parking garage to locate their vehicle. Parking garages have come up with many innovative solutions to help drivers remember the location of their parked vehicle; 1) some have unique color schemes for each parking level; 2) some have easy to remember names for each parking level; 3) some have fliers at each level with the corresponding parking level printed on them that drivers can take with them; 4) some print their map and layout on the back of parking tickets, on which drivers can mark the location of their parked vehicle. However there are many drawbacks with each of the present methods used by parking garages; 1) there is no uniformity in the method used, with each parking garage having its own unique method; 2) most methods only help drivers remember the level on which their vehicle is parked and not its exact location; 3) most methods consume paper which is environmentally unfriendly; 4) the methods employing unique color schemes or unique names for each parking level still require driver to memorize them, which can be problematic, especially in case of older drivers and drivers who park their vehicles for longer periods of time; 5) some methods require drivers to write the location of their parked vehicle which can be a problem on many accounts; a) requires drivers to carry a writing instrument, which is not the case at all times; b) some elderly drivers have trouble writing because of poor vision, arthritis in their hand joints or neuromuscular disorders; c) sometimes lighting conditions in the parking garage is not optimal.
In addition, there are inventions in the prior art that have attempted to provide a suitable device with means to remind drivers of the location of their parked vehicle. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,142 issued on Mar. 4, 2003; Yeh et al have disclosed a system for locating a vehicle that is parked in a parking lot, a parking garage or on a street. The system comprises of two separate signal generator/processor circuits, each circuit being contained in a module, one being a hand-held locator module and the other, a receive/response module that is installed in a vehicle. Both modules, when activated by user, communicate with the other by means of specially encoded radio signals. To find a parked vehicle, a user merely presses a pushbutton on the locator module which transmits a high frequency search signal. In response, the receive/response module emits a direction indicating signal to the locator module, which then displays the direction and elevation of the vehicle with respect to the user location. Provision is made for the receive/response module to operate without a connection to a vehicle battery if necessary, allowing the module to be used portably. The system is small in size, inexpensive and easy to use.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,921 issued on Dec. 2, 2002; Wilkinson has disclosed a system for locating a parked vehicle, as in the case of a driver having forgotten the location of his/her parked vehicle in a crowded parking lot, whereby a handheld apparatus is automatically engaged prior to the driver leaving the immediate vicinity of his/her parked vehicle. When thusly engaged, the apparatus retrieves GPS location coordinates for the parked vehicle from GPS satellites and stores these coordinates in its memory. Once activated by the driver for the purpose of finding his/her parked vehicle, the Vehicle Locating Apparatus retrieves GPS location coordinates for the driver's current position. Using the GPS location coordinates stored in its memory and those retrieved for the driver's current location, a microprocessor contained within the apparatus calculates the shortest course between the driver and his/her parked vehicle. This course is then presented on a visual display by way of a “floating” directional arrow. In the case of a parking garage where GPS satellite signals cannot be retrieved consistently, the apparatus has a built in counting switch that allows the driver to manually record in the apparatus' memory the floor number on which he/she parked his/her vehicle. When requested, the apparatus displays the floor number on a visual display.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,400,358 issued on Jun. 4, 2002; Carter has disclosed a portable electronic parking location reminder device that may be easily carried on a key chain or key ring has an electronic display screen and contains a battery powered microcontroller with memory and timer features. User input keys on the housing allow the user to enter letters and/or numbers corresponding to the location of a parked vehicle, store the entered data, and later retrieve and display the data when it is desired to find the parked vehicle. The user input keys include a mode key for selecting between an alpha mode for entering letters of the alphabet (A-Z), a numeric mode for entering numerals (0-9), and a direction mode for entering letters representing geographical directions (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W,). Data is entered and displayed in several distinct fields that correspond to an aspect of the location of the parked vehicle. The identity of a parking lot in which the vehicle is parked may be entered in a first field, the identity of a row of a parking area entered in a second field, the identity of a floor level of a parking facility in a third field, and the identity of a geographical location of a parking area in a fourth field. Stored data may be selectively locked to prevent accidental changing. An automatic reduced power mode reduces power consumption when not in use, and a low battery condition is also displayed.
None of the inventions in the prior art however, has the unique construction, design and functionality of the ‘Parking Location Reminder Device’ of the present invention discussed here forth.